if you're up front about the fact it was already in the process, then they *should* be reasonable about it. If you keep it quiet until you've heard either way then they might want to know why you didn't raise it beforehand and could play hardball.

and from what i gather if it's in your contract there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

If you can prove that your interview date was before the company won them as clients (or before you were aware that they had plans to sign them as clients) you might (might!!!) be able to get around it but i depends on how much of a wanker your boss is.

Best bet is to bring it up as soon as you can, and have a proper read of that section of your contract or employee handbook and see if it mentions if there are any exceptions. But yeah, speak to them SOON.

I think though like dnb said, if your interview date was before they signed them up, you might be able to get around it. i assume the clause is in there maybe for confidentiality reasons?! i don't know. so if you've done no work with them and get the job, you might be ok.